You have to admire Rafa Benitez. Peter Crouch hardly gets a look in all season, the manager preferring to play the hard working but goal shy Kuyt ahead of him and deciding he’ll keep the frankly rubbish Voronin over him, yet there’s a £15m price tag slapped on his head.
Amazing. Crouch is a decent Premier League player but how can he justify asking for that kind of money when, if he really was a £15m player, he’d surely have played more games this season?
Arsenal weren’t interested in the FA Cup game on Saturday. United deserved the win but Arsenal fans deserved more from their team. While people talk about psychological advantages and all that, the extra game or games that United have to play might be telling.
Sheffield United v Boro was worse than Chelsea v Liverpool last week. The only bright spot was United’s unsual free kick routine which seemed to involve making it look like they were having an argument. Beattie’s shot hit the post in the confusion. It’ll be interesting to see what they try next.
Preston were unlucky against Portsmouth but miss penalties against higher league opposition and you’re always asking for trouble. The own goal was a little cruel.
Liverpool - well, what can you say? They battered Barnsley but still got beaten. Sucker-punched right at the end. Nothing is going right for Benitez and with Inter Milan on the way it could get worse. It wouldn’t be beyond Liverpool to beat Inter though but you have to think the FA Cup was probably their best chance of silverware this season. If you take away the remarkable Champions League win the Spaniard’s record is not great the league title the Liverpool fans so desperately want still looks light years away.
Also, why the calls for DIC to take over from the Americans? It’s just one group of speculative investors after another. If the fans think DIC will be any different from Gilette and Hicks I think they’re mistaken. They probably do have a bit more welly behind them though.
Spain - Real Madrid beaten by struggling Real Betis. Barcelona grind out a difficult away win at Real Zaragoza. The gap is down to 5 points. It’s getting interesting.
Your thoughts on these points, or any others, most welcome.
It’s nice when a player is honest about why he joined a club. Sometimes it’s because it’s a big, important club. Sometimes it’s because he wants to work with a particular manager. Most of the time it’s about money. Which is exactly the case with Benjani who moved from Portsmouth to Man City.
Speaking about his controversial post-deadline day move, he says:
It was tough to leave Portsmouth and I was late leaving my home for Manchester because I kept asking myself all day whether this was all true. I kept telling myself it was all a bad dream and I would wake up the following day and still be a Pompey player. But this was not a dream.
But when I looked at the contract they were offering, I couldn’t believe it and I just signed there and then.
And his honesty is refreshing. It’s like Alberto Luque who joined Newcastle from Deportivo la Coruña. He wasn’t particularly interested in the move but confided to some of his international colleagues that the money on offer from Newcastle, in the region of £52,000 a week when he had been on around €9,000 at Depor, was just too good to turn down.
He couldn’t believe the amount of money he was being offered and it was that which made him swap the sunnier climes of Spain for the less sunny North East of England.
At least Newcastle got good value for their money…
Oh.
Is this the worst idea ever? The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas.
At a meeting in London on Thursday, all 20 clubs agreed to explore a proposal to extend the season to 39 games. Those 10 extra games would be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them.
The only reason for this is money. There is not one sporting motive behind this and while most of us can accept money is a huge factor in football these days it’s generally been making more from what’s already available (increased TV revenue, more live games etc).
To extend the season just so games can be auctioned to rich countries and promoters is an abhorrent idea. And can you imagine being the first team to lose the league because of this extra game? Over a 38 game season you’re top of the league but, fatigued from travel and everything else, you lose the final extra game allowing your rivals to overtake you, while all your fans sit at home in pubs going mental.
It is definitely the worst thing I’ve read in a long time and would be seriously damaging to the game. I don’t give a fuck about showcasing the game in Asia or America. I suspect most fans don’t care either. And do fans abroad want to see Derby vs Wigan at the Hong Kong Bowl, or wherever the fuck? No, they want to see the big teams.
I don’t even have the words to express how wrong I think this is. When clubs are already fleecing fans for tickets, TV channels, merchandise, even access to their websites and all of this on top of a record TV money deal, to even consider this circus of an idea is thoroughly objectionable.
I say no. What do you say? And how loudly are we going to have to say it?
Update: It seems the clubs ‘unanimously’ supported the plan, not sure if the original article said that but it bears repeating.
Reaction - Whoateallthepies. One says yes, the other says no. I honestly don’t know how any fan can give their support to this idea. I would have commented there but you have to register to comment so no thanks (open it up again, lads).
I think it’s great that people all over the world love Premier League football but I think if those people want to see Premier League football live then they should make their way to England.
Realistically speaking I don’t suppose any of the clubs would turn down the £1m or £2m they’ll earn for just one game but it’s a real shame not one of them had the morals to stand up against this. Plus, on a sporting level it is unfair. How do they decide who will play who? The impact on relegation and title winning is massive. Leaving the money aside it makes no sense whatsoever.
More reaction - James Lawton - Harry Redknapp
For all of you who want to commemorate the Munich air crash, what better way than a commemorative cashmere scarf? It’s a fucking snip at £49.99 and a whole ten pounds goes to charity.
Alternatively, the similarly-priced commemorative shirt is a real eye-catcher.
This takes the piss. Rather than debating whether to have a minute’s silence or a minute’s applause, why not work out another way to milk this event?
I find it a little bit sickening - not to mention hypocritical - that managers and players are calling for an end to abuse from fans in the same week that Man Utd players have been accused of having gang-sex with a 19-year-old girl at their Christmas party.
Respect has got to be earned, and I’ve got no respect for some of these overpaid thugs and cowards.
The irony is that the United players wouldn’t even have had their Christmas party this week if the players at the party - including Jonny Evans, who has been indicated in an alleged rape - hadn’t been knocked out of the Carling Cup by Championship strugglers Coventry.
How funny would it be if thousands of Liverpool fans marched to Anfield tonight to support flat-broke manager Rafa Benitez and then they got beaten by Porto?
I wonder how long they’d be singing his name then.
A few thoughts from watching MotD tonight:
I’d forgotten John Carew played in England now. What’s his problem? A goal per game at Rosenborg, 1 in 4 at Valencia, 1 in 3 at Roma, 1 in 2 at Besiktas, 1 in 3 at Lyon and he can’t get 90 minutes at Villa?
I’d forgotten about Jonathan Woodgate, too. 27 years old and his best years are behind him. The only way he can get a game now is to play for Boro. From Champions League to relegation battle; not the best career arc at his age.
Performances to forget: The linesman who flagged Kenny Miller offside when he scored against Chelsea; Sunderland defender Paul McShane, who looked today what his name suggests: a cross between Paul Shane and Ian McShane. Ha ha.
Was the ‘expert summary’ after the Arsenal - Wigan game the shortest (and most pointless) in MotD history?
Ray Stubbs: Arsenal move three points clear. A good result, Alan?
Alan Shearer: Yes, a very good result.
I paraphrase, but you get the idea.
An open letter to the interviewer who suggested Steve Coppell would be a good choice for England manager, or Ray Stubbs when speaking about Harry Redknapp, or anyone who thinks Paul Jewell or Alan Shearer would be a good idea:
Dear idiot,
Are you smoking crack?
Yours,
Peter (and the rest of the country)
Speaking of people smoking crack, what’s in Rafa Benitez‘ pipe? He’s complaining about tight purse strings at Liverpool, despite having spent £123 million on transfer fees in his four years in charge. That’s second only to Chelsea’s £168m over the same period, and doubtless one of the top ten highest worldwide. To put that in perspective, Manchester United have spent £73m in the last four years, and Arsenal, £40m.
This debate about foreign players seems to brought out the xenophobia in many. The FIFA proposal seems straightforward enough, where each club must name eight players who have been “locally trained” and limit the number of “foreigners” to five; apparently, this would allow homegrown talent to flourish, apparently.
While this appears to be a good idea, a hark back to the pre-Premier League days of almost totally English teams in the English top-flight, I think it would make things worse for the majority. Rather than create a level playing field, I believe the clubs with the money would pull further away. The term “locally trained” is contentious; what does local mean? Are we talking League Of Gentlemen? How does London fit in this? A local to London qualifies to play for a plethora of different clubs, from (potentially) Leyton Orient to Chelsea.
The voices supporting this move include Ferguson, Steve Coppell and now Stevie G, the saviour of Engerlish football. Manchester United have that spine of British players we’d all love to have in our team – Ferdinand, Carrick, Hargreaves, Rooney are all full internationals. And all purchased from other clubs. Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher, Chris Eagles, Gary Neville – all products of the youth system with only Wes & Gary being the only likely starters. This summer they bought Nani and Anderson. Good British boys there. Stevie’s own beloved Liverpool have a fair assortment of foreigners including the manager and this summer bought Torres, Voronin, Babel and Benayoun to name but four. All foreigners. About half of the Reading team that started against Arsenal on Monday night was foreign, plus there were three Irish players in Hunt, Doyle and Long. Oh, and Murty’s Scottish. So that leaves Shorey, Kitson and Harper in the starting XI and Oster on the bench. That’s not exactly setting an example, Steve.
Stevie G says:
“We are proud to say that we have one of the best leagues in the world but the most important thing is that have one of best national teams as well.”
Sorry Stevie, you haven’t had one of the best national teams for years. And years. I’m Scottish, I should know.
Trevor Brooking says:
“If you look at Italy when they won the last World Cup (2006), I think they had over 70% of their league made up of domestic players. Spain, France, Holland, they’re all up there too. Germany aren’t much better than us but we’re the lowest. The more that goes down, and the pool of choice reduces, we must come under pressure. In 10 years’ time you don’t want us just being pleased to qualify for tournaments.”
Firstly, Italy’s youth set-up is far superior to that of this country. Facilities are better, the teaching is better and kids are encouraged to play as opposed to “Gaaarrrn, geeetttt riiiidddd offff iiiitttt!!!”. Italy has consistently produced good young players for years. Look at Massimo Maccarone - an great prospect until he comes over here and goes to Boro. All of a sudden, he’s shit. He can’t always have been shit, he wouldn’t have got in the Italian U21 team (I hope all Italians become shit overnight though and stay that way until at least Sunday morning). Engerland’s pool of choice is already pretty small, and if kids are more bothered about playing FIFA 08 or Pro Evo then they will not be motivated to go out and kick a real ball. Incidentally, Engerland are pleased to qualify for tournaments - look at the game where Beckham scored That Free Kick against Greece to qualify for the World Cup was treated as a victory - they fucking drew two-all for Christ’s sake! You were losing at that point!
Steve Coppell has blamed assorted factors for this situation, including conflicting interests. What appears to be the problem is the national team. The Premier League is being asked to intervene and enforce rules and laws for the best interests of the national team. The apathy surrounding the national team is at an all-time low; when BFF gets booed by his own supporters when he comes on against Estonia you can tell there’s a big problem. The main reason is because of his club team, which is what most people are bothered about these days. Why watch another mediocre performance against Estonia when you can watch Man United tear Roma a new arsehole, see Liverpool put eight past Besiktas and see Arsenal sublimely pass their way through another team?
Arsene Wenger says:
“I have only been here since 1996 but between 1966 and 1996 you [England] had 30 years without foreign players and you didn’t win any more competitions in that time,”
And why is that? Because the problem lies further down than clubs buying Robin van Persie as opposed to Emile Heskey. That’s for the FA to sort out, rather than spunking millions on that white elephant in North London they should look at the facilities for the future of football not a potential revenue stream for the next couple of years. Clubs want success, supporters (and shareholders) demand it, and success equals money.
That’s what it’s all about - lots of money but none of it going where it’s needed.
I’m unsure as to what was the most revolting spectacle: Drogba kissing his shirt before throwing it into the crowd; the fans fighting to get it; or the manager claiming that Drogba was just an innocent lad who’d accidentally said a few things he didn’t mean.